Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI). The virus infects the skin and mucous membranes. There are more than 40 HPV types that can infect the genital areas of men and women, including the skin of the penis, vulva (area outside the vagina), anus, and the linings of the vagina, cervix and rectum. You cannot see HPV – most people who become infected with HPV do not even know they have it.
Genital HPV is passed on through genital contact, most often during vaginal and anal sex. A person can have HPV even if years have passed since he or she had sex. Most infected persons do not realize they are infected or that they are passing the virus to a sex partner.
Very rarely, a pregnant woman with genital HPV can pass it to her baby during vaginal delivery. If it is passed from mother to child during delivery, the child may develop warts in the throat or voice box – a condition called recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP).
Most people with HPV do not develop symptoms or health problems. But sometimes certain types of HPV can cause genital warts in men and women. Other HPV types can cause cervical cancer and other less common cancers, such as cancers of the vulva, vagina, anus and penis. The types of HPV that can cause genital warts are not the same as the types that can cause cancer.
In 90 percent of cases, the body’s immune system clears the HPV infection naturally within two years. Yet, the body will remain a carrier even if HPV lies dormant. This is true of both high-risk and low-risk types.
Genital warts usually appear as small bumps or groups of bumps, usually in the genital area. They can be raised or flat, single or multiple, small or large, and sometimes cauliflower shaped. Warts may appear within weeks or months after sexual contact with an infected person. Or, they may not appear at all. If left untreated, genital warts may go away, remain unchanged, or increase in size or number. They will not turn into cancer.
• There are over 100 HPV strands of the virus.
• About 30 of these types are sexually transmitted and cause genital HPV.
• Genital HPV is spread through skin-to-skin contact, not through an exchange of bodily fluid.
• Genital HPV cannot be entirely prevented by condom use.
• This virus is often asymptomatic – people usually don’t know they have it.
• About 5.5 million new genital HPV cases occur each year – this is about 1/3 of all new STD infections.
• About 20 million people – men and women – are thought to have an active HPV infection at any given time.
• Nearly three out of four Americans between the ages of 15 and 49 have been infected with genital HPV in their lifetime.
• HPV can be contracted from one partner, remain dormant, and then later be unknowingly transmitted to another sexual partner, including a spouse.
• Though usually harmless, some types cause cervical cancer.
• About 14,000 cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed in the United States each year.
• Over 5,000 women each year die of cervical cancer in the United States.
• The best way to screen for cervical cancer is a Pap test, which may be done alone or in combination with an HPV DNA test.
• The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommend that sexually active women and women age 21 and older should have an annual gynecologic exam in addition to Pap tests at regular intervals (the frequency of Pap tests can vary depending on a woman’s age and the type of Pap test being done).
References:
1. http://www.ashastd.org/learn/learn_hpv_facts.cfm
2. http://www.cdc.gov/STD/HPV/STDFact-HPV.htm
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